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McEwen Wins Stage 3 of Romandy Tour

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McEwen Wins Stage 3 of Romandy Tour

Robbie McEwen (Predictor) has won Stage 3 of the Tour of Romandy.

Robbie McEwen (Predictor) has won Stage 3 of the Tour of Romandy. The Australian took a bunch sprint from Borut Bozic (LPR) and Enrico Gasparotto (Liquigas) to win the rolling, 166.9-km ride from La Chaux-de-Fonds to Lucens. Paolo Savoldelli (Astana) remains the overall leader.

Nicolas Crosbie (Bouygues Telecom) made the break of the day. He escaped at 68 km, and his lead maxed out at about 9:30. With 50 km left, Milram, Euskaltel, and Astana began to chase and Crosbie?s lead began to fall.

Euskaltel led the chase during the final stages of the pursuit. At the summit of the Category 2 Col de Thierrens (142 km), Crosbie led the peloton by 2:10. Finnish champion Jussi Veikkanen (Francaise des Jeux) attacked. He bridged up to Crosbie with 18 km left and dropped the Frenchman soon after. Three km later, however, the peloton brought the race together.

A number of attacks took place, but the bunch, led by Astana, Credit Agricole, and Euskaltel, let no one escape. Astana led the field into the last 10 km, and the team?s pressure caused the bunch to split. Eventually, however, Astana lost control of the peloton. With no team organizing a sprint train, chaos ensued.

In the last 300 m, a crash occurred. David Millar (Saunier Duval) and Leonardo Duque (Cofidis) were among the riders who wound up on the ground. The crash split the 40-man peloton, and only 15 riders contested the sprint, which McEwen won.

In the overall, Savoldelli leads Roman Kreuzinger (Liquigas) and Chris Horner (Predictor) by 0:05. Stage 3 will probably not alter this state of affairs. The rolling, 162.6-km ride from Moudon to Charmey en Gruyere will feature one Category 2 and two Category 3 climbs. Who will win it? Check in at www.roadcycling.com and find out!